The Stefanos Foundation: Serving the persecuted Church in Nigeria

By Angela Wittman

‘Remember those in prison as if you yourself were their fellow prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourself were suffering’
~  Hebrews 13:3

The Stefanos Foundation describes itself as ‘the rising hope of the persecuted’ and bringing hope to a troubled nation while working for peace and justice.  Some of their featured projects include widows support, care of orphans, trauma counseling, advocacy / media awareness , and rehabilitation/reconstruction of burned and damaged homes while providing micro-funding to small businesses and helping to establish self-supporting small businesses. 

The foundation also provides advocacy and legal aid for those imprisoned and suffering injustice throughout the region. Their goal is to serve God’s Church by speaking as advocates for the persecuted while showing Christian love and compassion to all parties involved.  

Evangelism efforts include facilitating a radio program which broadcasts God’s Word to the unreached people of northern Nigeria and providing support to pastors in crisis prone areas.  This support includes providing leadership training, Bibles and Christian literature on how to ‘love’ their persecutors to Christ.

Nigeria is a nation in Western Africa with a population estimated at over 170,000,000 in 2012.  Wikipedia reports it to be the most populous country in Africa and the seventh most populated country in the world.  The government is listed officially as a federal constitutional republic which became independent in 1960.  The country is made up of mainly the Muslim religion in the north with Boko Haram, militant jihadists who seek to establish sharia law and Christians in the south.

The Stefano Foundation reports that in Nigeria “hundreds of homes and churches have been torched, and Christian men, women and children terrorised, macheted or shot. Government military forces provide little or no protection and are increasingly complicit in these attacks. In the North-West, victims are not eligible for relief funding if they are Christians.”

Here are ways you can help the Stefanos Foundation and the persecuted church in Nigeria:

• Provide prayer support.
• Tell others about the persecuted church in Nigeria and the work the Stefanos Foundation is doing.
• Contact them and sign up for their news reports.
• Donate much needed funds.
• Share their resources with others.

Additional Resources:

•  The Voice of the Persecuted Church (Stefanos Foundation Blog)
• The Voice of the Martyrs Persecution Blog
• Christian Post stories about the Stefanos Foundation
• Christian Concern: Further Religious Cleansing in Nigeria
• Foundation Seeks to Serve the Persecuted in Nigeria

Illinois home educators oppose amending School Code with SB 3259

Update 5.17. 2012 - Bill has been assigned to the Elementary & Secondary Education Committee. Hearing to be May 22, 2012, 9:30AM, Capitol Building, Room 114, Springfield, IL. Click here for a list of committee members. Keep up with the bill's status here.

Update 3.28.2012 - HSLDA reports:

The full Illinois Senate is expected to vote on Senate Bill 3259—a bill that would make compulsory school attendance end a year later—by Friday of this week. Please call your Illinois senator right away!

Update 3.2.2012: HSLDA reports SB 3259 has made it out of committee and is expected to go to the Senate floor soon and might possibly be voted on as early as next week. Calls to the Illinois state senate are urgently needed.

Illinois home educators are rallying in opposition to SB 3259 which calls for amending the Illinois School Code compulsory school age from 17 to 18 years. Organizations calling for citizens to take action and call their state legislators include ICHE (Illinois Christian Home Educators) and HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association).

Disagreement concerning SB 3259 stems from the belief that parents are in the best position to know what is best for their 17 year-old children, whether it be higher education or perhaps an apprenticeship to prepare them for employment.  It may not be in the best interest of a young adult at 18 years of age to be forced to remain in school.

Home educated children often advance at a faster pace than students in government schools and as a consequence are ready for higher learning or career preparation such as a trade or technical school at an earlier age.  HSLDA states on their Academic Statistics on Homeschooling page under Independent Evaluations of Homeschooling that “in 1997, a study of 5,402 homeschooled students from 1,657 families was released... The study demonstrated that homeschoolers, on the average, out-performed their counterparts in the public schools by 30 to 37 percentile points in all subjects.”

The education committee hearing for SB 3259 is scheduled for Friday, February 24^th. Home educators are encouraged to be ever vigilant in protecting their freedoms and contact their Illinois legislators right away. HSLDA provides this contact information for concerned citizens:

James T. Meeks, chair
(217) 782-8066

Kimberly A. Lightford, vice chair
(217) 782-8505

Annazette R. Collins
(217) 782-6252

Susan Garrett
(217) 782-3650

Iris Y. Martinez
(217) 782-8191

John G. Mulroe
(217) 782-1035

David S. Luechtefeld, minority spokesperson
(217) 782-8137

Christine J. Johnson
(217) 782-1977

Kyle McCarter
(217) 782-5755

Suzi Schmidt
(217) 782-7353